AC700/450 - anyone know anything about it?

Article about: Another recent pickup, from Brecon Militaria Fair. This is a good one in that it has a complete label! So theoretically we know everything about it. Except that we don't; I can find NO refer

AC700/450 - anyone know anything about it?

Another recent pickup, from Brecon Militaria Fair. This is a good one in that it has a complete label! So theoretically we know everything about it. Except that we don't; I can find NO reference to this helmet anywhere.

It is badged as a COURTAULDS AEROSPACE AC700/450, and dated 1997. Courtaulds was effectively the predecessor company of what we know as NATIONAL PLASTICS AEROSPACE (NP Aerospace - home of the Mk6, 6A, 7, and most of the Para Lightweights, and lots of other helmets - now Morgan Composites ...pay attention!). I don't know this as a provable fact but observation tells me that the Courtaulds name was continued in use during the 1990s for a variety of export-oriented items, most notable what is better known as the Swedish Hjalm90. So it is possible that this was an export product.

It is a rather light helmet (910g, light even for a Small size), with a very basic liner, and I do wonder whether it might have been designed for sale to hot regions.

The plastic clip chinstrap fastener is unusual for Courtaulds/NP products. The front pad is fixed with velcro. It has a nape pad as part of the liner. It has a rather unusual design of plastic chin-cup.

The individual serial number of the helmet is 0005, which might mean that very few were made. Or it might mean the other 50,000 are in Myanmar....

I'm really quite baffled by this. It proves that having what seems like all the information doesn't always get you closer to the who where how and why of the thing. Any ideas?

A fascinating helmet Greg of which I've never seen before ,which alas means i can't contribute any information you may require ,the shell profile certainly looks low dome so offering good situation awareness ,Im assuming as its finished in olive drab its not an off the shelf item and perhaps more so issued ,can i ask is the liner complete as specified ,it seems and please don't take this the wrong way Very crude ,i look forward to learning more about this unusual composite you have brought before us
thanks ,James

Well, James, I've put it before some other compo collectors and no-one else has seen it before either, so you're hardly alone. And persistent web-searching comes up with absolutely nothing.

The liner appears complete to me - or more to the point there's nothing obvious missing. I have seen other composites with equally simple liners, so its not wildly unusual. And yes, it is very basic - crude, even!

Then again, it is from one of the *big* helmet producers so they clearly had some market in mind. Its obviously not experimental as there's nothing whatsoever unusual about it in that sense. I feel it was probably a short run done as samples for export, a cheap and cheerful helmet for a comparatively poor country. We may never know the truth.

(Addendum, the following morning. Believe it or not I woke up thinking about this. It's unfair to say that this helmet is 'crude' - that usually indicates a low level of poor workmanship and design, which is not the case here, as every part from chinstrap clip to shell itself is actually very well-finished and fitted as you would expect from a National Plastics product. 'Simple', or 'basic', yes, 'crude', no. )

There's no 'let' involved here! I am very keen to get contributions from anyone who has any interesting composites, or who can provide more info on anything already shown, or even just better photos of something. The whole point of CompoSite is that it is a collaborative effort.

If you want to contribute remember the site is essentially to help with *identification* so we need good clear pictures - ideally front, sides, back - even top if that is interesting - and the interior, showing anything useful to know like unusual liner or chinstrap parts. Especially any stamps or labels!

Contact me by PM from here in the first instance and I'll send you my email addresss for passing on pics and info.